ANST - THE ROLE OF THOSE IN POWER

[Paul Mitchell]

Galen here...

>Greetings From Alina:
>
>Is it for those in power, kingdom or baronial, to make judgements on the
>people they serve? 

Yes, absolutely.  Awards come from the ruling nobles, 
often after consultation with prior recipients of the
awards.  It is for those people to use their judgement
as best they can to decide who should receive awards.

>In references to judgement, I mean to use your power to
>hold individuals back and/or to refuse awards they should have been given? 

Alina, I'm sorry, but this is a warped definition of 
the word "judgement".  If your question is "should
ruling nobles abuse their authority to grant awards?"
then the answer is "of course not".  But the question
of who should be given which awards is a very subjective
one, and turns on opinions on what the standards and
criteria for the award should be, as well as perceptions
of what the potential recipient has accomplished.  Good
people can and often do disagree on which people should
get which awards.

>I
>hear over and over that kingdom and on down to barony positions, it is felt
>those with the power feel the right and just cause be prejudice toward an
>individual just because they don't like or give a hoot about. 

I don't believe that this is true.  Most awards do not
include "being liked by the King personally" among their
qualifications, and most Crowns and territorial baronage
don't place their own biases in such prominent positions
that they're completely unable to re-evaluate a person's
work.

>I personally
>feel it is the job, besides giving a good show, be fair and impartial when
>dealing with all individuals no matter your opinion of them. Are am I
>imagining a too perfect SCA society? I just hate getting disillusioned with
>those in power after hearing another recent happening. Why must this be
>continued and allowed to happen?

I agree that that's their job, but as you must be aware,
perfect impartiality is as difficult to achieve as any
other sort of perfection.  But ultimately, the noble must
make a judgement -- that is, form an opinion -- of whether
a person should receive an award.  Neither of us will always
agree with the award decisions of any given ruler.

The other thing is that you've identified the source of 
your distress as "hearing another recent happening".  You
know, there are two sides, at least, to any such issue, 
and unless you heard a noble tell you "I won't give him
that award he deserves because I just don't like him", then
someone else is ascribing motives to the ruler; maybe not
accurately.  

Alina, you have peers and nobles among your friends (me
included); if you feel an injustice is being done, enlist
them to help you correct it.  If you feel that someone
isn't getting an award they should have, I'd be happy
to give you some advice on how to get them that award
(and if I agree with you, I could even get involved
myself).  This sort of work is called "politics".  But
you should be aware that politics, just like fighting,
doesn't always end in success.  Sometimes you end having 
to accept that you can't get what you're trying for, call
your blow and leave the field.

There's also a timing issue.  In your barony Alina, there's
a major event coming up in a few weeks; the Baron & Baroness
would be saving most awards to be given to their subjects
for that occasion.  Maybe the award you think should be
given is already in the works.

Finally, wrangling over specific award recipients can be
a very sensitive issue.  It's best done quietly, with
as few spectators as possible.

>Signed just me,
>Lady Alina
>lg_photo at texas.net

- Galen of Bristol

_____________________________________________________
John 6:54-56

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